Arriving in London on my first day I was lucky enough to sleep for a massive majority of my 17 hours in the air. My lack of sleep for the last 2 days in singapore paid off in dividends and when I landed in London Heathrow and Cristina was there to greet me at the arrivals, I was ready to carpe diem and have a great time. We took the tube back to her house and i started unfolding some of the awesome things I had done since the last time I saw her for lunch last time I visited. We got back to her house and seeing how it was such a beautiful day, spent the entire day hanging out on her porch with the hammock and the stereo and some mixed drinks. It was a perfect way to spend the day! AT night one of her and her roomates italian friends came over. Marta was a super cool italian lady and was full of energy and a spice for life.
Seeing how i hadnt made dinner for myself since i left home I was excited to cook and offered to make dinner for them all. While at the grocery store I made a consience decision to make something that had the most steps in it. I landed on tacos as that allowed me to make some rice, vegetables, meat, and chicken, along with cutting some veggies and warming the tacos. I was pumped to do it all and i think that everyone enjoyed it becuase we ate everything and i never cook too little food. it was great. I passed out HARD when i went to bed and it felt great to sleep with a blanket and a big comfy mattress.
On Monday, Cristina had taken the day off to adventure and that was super super cool becuase she rarely does that. We took our time waking up and i think we were both finally up by around noon-ish. We decided to go for a run. I had thought about going for one becuase i know cri is a big time runner but(i think she does like 30 or 40k a week) i really wanted to go for a run and do what i could to get into shape for pedi cabbing. She told me she was doing ten miles that day. Although massively intimidated ( I havent run that far since april 19th 2010) i went with it anywy. It was great to get some fresh air and have such an intense workout. I was behind her mmost of the time but it was a great way to explore her area. We made it by Wimbledon which was really cool too. It made me really miss running and training but it also made me supppper exited for riding a bike so soon. especially with all the bikes we saw around london, where bikign has risen in popularity big time in the last few years. I survived the run and we made it home. For dinner we had a little rice and vegetables and made plans to go see a movie at an art house cinema where Cri knew a guy that worked there that got us in for free-99. Super awesome. We saw a movie that i posted about after i saw it. check it out below a bit.
On tuesday I went on a citywide adventure via the bus and tube. I still had lots of rides on the card i found the first hadl of the trip so i used it to its potential by riding on random trains in random directions. fun times. I eventually made it to the waterloo station where I knew i had seen some cool graffiti last time i was in london. I made a personal mission to find it and after some hunting i stumbled upon the tunnel again.
^make that bigger...it was so awesome sit and watch these dudes create these amazing pieces.(just click on it)^
Essentially a underground tunnel, it is totally legal to paint on the walls and hundreds of people do it every month, constantly transforming an ugly tunnel into something beautiful.I made it to a few museums and the southbank skatepark and the eye (where some movie was being filmed too). Later that night I was able to meet Cri in Hyde Park after riding a bike through central london during rush hour. crazy silly but i survived.
For dinner we went to a really awesome Morrocan restuarant that cri had heard of but never been to before. The food was delicious (lamb and seabass for entrees along with an awesome app sampler) and the atmosphere of the place was great. We had some great dinner conversation and it was fantastic.
On our walk home I wanted to show cri the graffiti tunnel because she had never seen it. We found it and she was super impressed by it and i think that she'll probably paint something on it someday. While we were there though there were two guys drinking a bottle of grand Monqiua (?) straight and eating some oreos. They offered us a sip and i politely declined until a few moments later when one of them said it was his birthday. My sip opened the floodgates of conversation and we eneded up hanging out with the guys for a while. We didnt drink anymore of their stuff but instead using some pens we had in our bag, made a little picture for the guy celebrating his birthday. Happy Birthday Alex in graffiti art was really cool and the guys happiness as we drew it was worth every second of it and more. The two guys were brothers and it was the older ones birthday and he was taking a break from work to drink with his brother and celebrate. (i hate to think how ineffective he was after half a bottle of liquor at 11pm but thats his issue...) The dudes were great fun and while we easilly could have been intimidated by them when we walked in they turned out to be one of the best parts of the night. (well it was an awesome night but they were still really cool)
For my last day I woke up kind of late-ish and spent the morning cleaning the apartment up and packing my bag. I met Cri before I left at her work, and we went out for some fro-yo from a place called SNOG. check it out. this place is bomb. Sidenote: The day earlier cri had told me that all morning the day before Kate Middleton had been in her office, trying to decide on a piece of jewelry that eventually Cristina would make. Yes, the kate middleton. anyway, all morning while i was cleaning up i had this reoccurring thought that Ms. Middleton was going to be at her work again and that when i went to meet cri for lunch she wasnt going to be able to leave becuase she was busy but then i would just invite kate middleton for fro-yo because i read an article that she likes SNOG a whole bunch and they might have it for desert at her wedding.
legit i must have ran through this scenario in my head a hundred times.
it didnt happen but it was really cool to think about anyway. I said goodbye to cristina and took my bus to make my way to the airport. (sidenote" I eventually made my plane with 5 minutes to spare....my foray in the opposite direction for a cadbury nearly cost me big time:)
my time in london was really really awesome though. cristina is probably the most positive and encouraging person i have ever met and you cant help but have a good time when your around her. even though my suprise visit in feb. was thwarted by her weekend in paris with her boyfriend our 4 days in March were more than enough to remind me why i thought it would be awesome to suprise her in the first place. She is really really fantastic and every conversation we had was one of those feel good, get to know you really well, super deep and meaningful, supremely ridiculous, awesomely encouraging moments you get only so often in life. we were just lucky enough to have 4 days of them.
Although my departure from London is essentially the end of my little adventure I dont like to use the word end. Its to close minded. My entire life is an adventure no matter where i go or what I do. i love it.
Its just time to open a new chapter and see where it takes me. I look forward to stepping off the plane and seeing my friends again. A story is only a story if you have someone to tell it to!
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